Nature, first prize
stories - Brent Stirton

Despite the fact that this year’s WPPh award-winning shots feature some truly harrowing images, few are as affecting as Nature Stories category winner and National Geographic photographer Brent Stirton’s moving pictures of the murder of the black rhinos at the hands of poachers.

“I started shooting the rhino crisis for National Geographic in 2011 when it was really emerging,” recalls Brent. “And this latest series of images, which appeared in an article called Rhino Wars, was all about looking at the rapidly accelerating state of it.”

The lead image in this story was of a dead black rhino. It’s both dramatic and profound, and is all the more impressive given the lack of time Brent had to capture the shot. “I probably visited 30 different carcass sites before I got an image that, in my opinion, had the right combination of elements to make it something people would respond to emotionally,” says Brent.

“I only had five minutes to shoot it before the police turned up to begin investigating the crime and I knew I couldn’t contaminate the scene. There were two guys holding the lights – there was no time for stands – and I just banged it out. We lit it with two flashguns because it was in shadow and I needed to avoid overexposing the beautiful background.”

Brent used an EOS-1D X twined with an EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM zoom to take this disconcerting image, and remained completely focused on the job at hand, despite being deeply moved by what he witnessed. “My own mental well-being was of less importance than this story getting told properly,” says Brent.

“I remember I only had seven weeks on it; seven weeks in five countries to make a set of pictures that were worthy of the subject.” And given the response, both from the public and members of the WPPh jury, it’s fair to say that’s exactly what he’s done.